New Delhi, March 25 Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw chaired a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) on Wednesday, where discussions focused on issues related to Artificial Intelligence, emerging technologies, and electronics hardware manufacturing.
The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, members of the consultative committee, IT Secretary S Krishnan, and other senior officials of the Ministry.
Senior officials from the Ministry made detailed presentations on the agenda topics, elaborating on key initiatives, their progress, and future roadmap, an official release said.
In his opening remarks, Vaishnaw, the Minister for Electronics and IT, emphasized that AI and related technologies are transforming the world today.
He also informed the committee that electronics manufacturing in the country has made significant progress over the last decade.
While manufacturing has grown six-fold, electronics exports have grown eight times, and the sector employs 2.5 million people in the country, Vaishnaw said.
A presentation on new-age technologies was made before the committee, highlighting the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, and the Internet of Things in shaping the world.
"The committee was informed about India's progress in the AI sector, including its improved global ranking," the release said.
Use cases of AI across various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, judiciary, and disaster management were also discussed.
"Officials also outlined the IndiaAI Sovereign Stack, aimed at ensuring digital self-reliance through indigenous models, computing infrastructure, datasets, and skilling initiatives," the release further said.
Highlighting the rising profile of India in AI leadership, as reflected in India hosting the AI Impact Summit recently, the officials informed the committee that necessary follow-up actions are also being taken on the achievements of the Summit.
Vaishnaw informed the panel that the government's support, in the form of facilitating affordable GPUs, has helped address one of the key barriers to the growth of the AI ecosystem.